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Gattaca

By Gattaca
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Gattaca Member

Gattaca

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Evening everyone,

Been enjoying reading some of the threads and have finally plucked up the courage to join and post.

After being made redundant from my job some months back I finally took the time (no pun intended) to start the hobby that I’ve always wanted to do - try my hand at watch repair etc.

Over the past months I have been buying some old pocket watches and trying my hand at getting them up and running - to mixed results.

I’ve have also been working on a Waltham A11 (I know I hear you shouting, don’t ruin it!). I’m missing some parts though:

- missing stem fixing screw

- missing 1 screw from the pallet bridge 

- worst of all I’m missing the hairspring 

I know parts for these are like rocking horse poo (v rare) but can anyone point me in the right direction? This little watch deserves to come to life again!

Thanks everyone 

 

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grsnovi Distinguished Member

grsnovi

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Welcome to the forum!

While you probably already know that the best way to solve your missing part problem is with an identical movement that has the parts you need. You may not realize that the hairspring and balance were typically matched at assembly. While I was working on an old Elgin I also found out that I couldn't just swap out a complete balance from one movement to another of the same grade since one had a double roller balance staff and the pallet forks were different. The two grade 313 movements had been manufactured 26 years apart.

The screws ought to be easier to solve than the hairspring.

Good luck!

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JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

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2 hours ago, Gattaca said:

worst of all I’m missing the hairspring 

1 hour ago, grsnovi said:

You may not realize that the hairspring and balance were typically matched at assembly.

A typical newbie mistake is to assume that all individual components are individual and can be replaced individually. Typically on modern watches they hairspring is individually vibrated that meets its match to the balance wheel it's on. This means that even a modern watch they do very high tolerances you cannot swap they hairspring you will have timing consequences because the balance wheel and hairspring are not matched together

there are exceptions to that if they hairspring is premade because it has an over coil then they can be replaced but? But this means the balance wheel now has to matched the hairspring at one time there what about an assortment of timing screws to allow you to match the balance wheel to the hairspring. Then there would be some fine tuning of trimming the undersides of the screws usually get everything the match in other words it's a lot of work.

The easiest way to deal with the hairspring for the watch you have is something like this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115166778552

This is a balance complete this is typically the way if you need a balance wheel you would get a balance complete. Just make sure the balance wheel looks like the one you have there tend to be variations in American manufacturing especially with older watches where things well the book may say they're identical but the book is wrong there were variations.

 

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RichardHarris123 Distinguished Member

RichardHarris123

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Posted

Hello and welcome.  My results have been mixed too but I bet it's not uncommon for us beginners. For example, I struggled to get a balance on the right side of the fork and eventually dropped it on the floor.  Tangled hairspring, got it on the correct side first time after that but obviously wouldn't run. Hehe. 

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Gattaca Member

Gattaca

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You see, I came to the right place! Thanks for the messages, already a good learning point!

I’ll certainly keep you informed.

any tips for a good Vintage(ish) Seiko to dabble with? One that will be a test but where parts are slightly more easy to come by?

Cheers!

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